Fillmore extends moratorium on medical marijuana dispensaries

The city of Fillmore unanimously approved a yearlong extension of a moratorium on medical marijuana dispensaries Tuesday night.

The vote was 5-0 with no public comment.

The city has had a ban on dispensaries since April 13, after the city received several applications to open medicinal marijuana dispensaries in the city.

"It is still against federal law," said Fillmore Mayor Gayle Washburn. "And we are being advised by the Sheriff's Department that it brings a criminal element."

No other city or unincorporated area of the county permits medical marijuana dispensaries.

The decision to extend the moratorium gives the city staff time to review and examine the pros and cons of allowing medicinal marijuana dispensaries, where people with a doctor's recommendation can legally purchase small amounts of pot for personal medicinal use.

California cities and counties are struggling with how to get a handle on dispensaries.

Advocates say that dispensaries are needed because they allow people with medical needs to purchase marijuana in a safe environment. Critics contend the dispensaries are fronts for the sale of marijuana to people without a legitimate medical problem.

Thousands of dispensaries have popped up in Los Angeles County, which has caused problems for law enforcement. Across the state, 200 cities have banned dispensaries, while 34 allow them.

Police Chief Tim Hagel said that dispensaries invite crime. Fillmore, he said, should not rush into approving dispensaries.

"I feel that all law enforcement, in both Ventura County and across the state, while it's certainly an ongoing topic of public debate, believes that having marijuana dispensaries has quality-of-life consequences for people in a community," Hagel said.

The chief said that nobody is going to debate that a person who has cancer and has a legitimate recommendation from a doctor should have access to medicinal marijuana.

But dispensaries serve other people.

"You look in Los Angeles and the thousands of dispensaries, and how it got out of control," Hagel said. "It was having social consequences that far outreached the benefits."